Canary Wharf has taken over from Tech City to become the preferred home of FinTech startups, according to new analysis.

Level39, Canary Wharf Group’s incubator, has seen 14 of the 140 new companies recently set up to provide financial technology – the biggest single cluster exploiting the proximity to key customers.

It houses 190 young tech firms and is Europe’s largest provider of FinTech incubator space. More levels of One Canada Square provide high-growth space.

The second-largest cluster is found on the South Bank in SE1, where 11 companies have grouped together, says CBRE, the global real estate consultancy. These two areas put the traditional tech heartland of Old Street in to third, fourth and fifth.

Head of CBRE CreativeLondon Dan Hanmer said: “Canary Wharf has been an ideal home for FinTech start-ups hoping to stand on the shoulders of the financial giants in the area, especially for the FinTech ‘facilitators’ that play a supportive role for well established firms in the sector.

“There are similarly thousands of innovative businesses springing up around Old Street’s Tech City, so it’s little surprise to see three of the top five FinTech clusters in this area.

“What’s less expected is the size of the cluster on the South Bank, where a new wave of FinTech disruptors are benefiting from lower rents just outside the City.

“FinTech firms tend to group together with like-minded businesses with similar property needs; this puts them near customers and within reach of appropriate talent. As competitors to traditional financial institutions FinTech disruptors have less need to be based in traditionally financial postcodes, so this move south may well be an emerging trend.”